Interlocking shingle



Ynited tates INTERLOCKING SHIN GLE Filed Apr. 29, 1955, Ser. No. 504,732

6 Claims. c1. 50-224 This invention has to do with a new and improvedroofing shingle of the so-called asphalt type, in fact comprised ofasphalt-saturated and coated roofing felt. More specifically theinvention relates to a shingle of this type, basically T-shaped, andproviding for interlocking. Such shingles are commonly cut from asubstantially continuous sheet of suitable felt which has beenpreviously saturated with asphaltic or bituminou compositions, surfacecoated on one face, and usually has embedded in such surface coating asuitable weather-resistant, protective and decorative surface, the colorof the'face of the shingle being determined by the color of thesurfacing granules.

This invention has to do with the provision of shingles of the type orclass generally referred to in the industry as doublecoverage shingles,which are primarily used for re-roofing without removing the old roofingover which they are applied. These shingles are designed so that inapplication they are interlocked, one with another, to provide a weatherand waterproof covering comprising at all points at least two layers ofthe shingle material and providing a roofing construction which isespecially.

cutouts as such are ordinarily referred to in the industry.

There is thus provided a shingle which, from the economic standpoint,requires substantially the minimum of material for its production or,otherwise stated, requires the minimum amount of roofing sheet for theproduction of a square of roofing, the amount of material required forcovering 100 square feet of roof area. The shingles are also what aretermed self-aligning and require the g minimum amount of nailing due totheir interlocking, which may be said to tie together the shingles of anapplication so that each shingle of the aggregate is in eifect held inplace not only by the nails by which it is secured to the roof, but alsoby the nails securing adjacent shingles.

As above referred to, the interlocking feature of these shinglesprovides an application in which there is provided high resistance todisengagement of the interlock between adjacent shingles and against theraising of the exposed butts of the shingles by wind pressure.

Particularly, the shingle hereof is one which, when applied, results inan exposed hexagonal pattern or appearance to provide the attractiveeffect which is obtained by the use of shingles providing such hexagonalexposure pattern as contrasted with the usual so-called T-form shinglewhich results in a rectangular exposure pattern. 7

The principal object of the invention is to provide a shingle basicallyof the so-called T-shape as a doublecoverage shingle, interlocking, andresulting, upon application, in a hexagonal exposure pattern.

Additional objects of this invention are the provision of a shingle, asjust previously referred to, which is economical as regards the grossamount of base sheet required for the production of a square ofshingles, or, otherwise stated, which may be cut from the base sheetwith the minimum of waste cut-outs, and which is selfaligning, isapplied with a of nailing, and in particular, when applied, constitutesin effect a continuous double layer roof covering. 7

In the accompanying drawing illustrating the invention hereof, Fig. 1 isa plan view of an individual shingle hereof, and Fig. 2 is a plan viewof a plurality of such shingles in assembled relation as such would beapplied to a roof.

For the purpose of description, the shingle hereof will be described ascomprised of three parts; a head portion,

an intermediate portion, and a base portion, the shingle beingdesignated generally by the numeral 10, the head portion by 11, theintermediate portion by 12 and the base portion by 13. These threeportions of the shingle 10 just above referred to are of equal height Xas indicated in Fig. 1. The head portion 11 is the widest with portion12 being somewhat narrower, so that shoulders 14 are formed on the lineof such decreasing width, and base portion 13 is still narrower thanintermediate portion 12 whereby shoulders 15 are formed on the line ofsuch decreasing width. The difference in width of the head portion 11and base portion 13 with respect to the intermediate portion 12 is equalbut, however, inverse, that is, head portion 11 is wider by the sameamount that base portion 13 is narrower than intermediate portion 12.

It will be evident, according'to the description of the shingle justabove given, that by reversing the shingle pattern in alternatingarrangement, the shingles may be 10. It will, of course, be understoodthat the shingle is not normally cut from asheet which is of a widthequal to the height of the shingle, but that ordinarily the roofingsheet is of a width which is a multiple of the height of shingle unit10, andthat a plurality of rows of shingles are cut from the sheetsimultaneously.

To provide for thelocking tabs whereby the resulting shingles 10 areinterlocking shingles, andto afford the hexagonal exposure patternpreviously referred to, the shingles are further cut, as will bedescribed, or, as referred to generally in the industry, certainknockouts are made.

To provide on the base portion 13 of shingle 10"the locking tabs 20 andthe inclined edge on base portion- 13 to result in the desired hexagonalexposure pattern, a triangle portion is cut from each side edge of baseportion 13, such cutouts described with reference to the intersection ofthe inner edge of shoulders 15 constituting. downwardly and inwardlyslanting lines inclined at an angle approximately 24 with respect to averticalline through the intersection referred to and being the shingleedge 21 as shown on the drawing. Shingle edge 21 extends downwardly tointersect the upper inclined edge of the locking tab, which upperinclined edge is identified by numeral 22 and extending upwardly andoutwardly at an angle approximately 15 from the horizontaland from thepoint of intersection of the inner end of such locking tab edge 22 andbase portion edge 21, the such intersection being located at a point ofsubstantially equal distance from the extreme outer edge of locking tab20 and the bottom edge of base 13. For the particularshingle which isillustrated, and preferably of overall dimensions 20 x 20, suchintersecting point of edges 21 and 22 is substantially two inches abovethe lower edge of base portion 13 and two inches inwardly from theextreme outer edge portion of locking tab 20.

The basic shingle is provided with another cutout 25 which, in actualmanufacture, would probably be cut out or knocked out by the sameoperation by which the previously referred to triangle portion isremoved. This slot 25 extends inwardly also from the intersection of theside edge of base portion 13 and shoulder 15, being inclined atsubstantially the same angle as shingle edge 21 but oppositely directedwith respect to the vertical line through intersection of edges 21 and15. This cutout 25 is of a length to receive what might be termed theshank of locking tab 20 and vertically is of a height equal to or justslightly greater than the height of a locking tab 20 measured at thepoint of intersection of edge surfaces 21 and 22.

Heretofore a shingle of the design of that thus far described herein hasnot been commercially practical since it will be obvious from inspectionof Fig. 2, and considering an applied row of shingles, it is, as apractical matter, impossible to apply the next above succeeding row ofshingles. This is due to the fact that the distance across a shinglejust above the tabs and designated by a is greater than the widthbetween what might be termed the points of adjacent shingles of thepreceding row of material. These points just referred to are actuallythose constituting intersections of edges 15 and 21 of a shingle. Thisis not to say that the shingles insofar as above described could not beapplied to a roof. If the shingles being applied have sulficientflexibility they may be manipulated and brought into interlocking,applied position, but practically such shingles would be useless sincethe cost of installation due to the time consumed, and cracking ofshingles would prohibit their use, that is, they could not complete, forexample, with the so-called straight T exposure pattern in which theexposure pattern is substantially square or somewhat rectangulardepending upon the design of the shingles.

To overcome this difiiculty of application of the shingles thereof, asjust referred to, slits are provided in the base portion 13 as indicatedby numeral 26. These slits 26 are, as stated, merely cuts in the shinglewhich extend inwardly from the point of the intersection of shingle edgesurfaces 21 and 22 and positioned parallel to the lower edge of the baseportion 13. Slits 26 extend inwardly from their point or origin, asreferred to, for a suflicient distance so that the distance betweentheir inner ends is slightly less than the distance between adjacentpoints of a previously applied row of shingles, designated by b. Thatis, such distance or dimension is slightly less than the points definedby the intersections of edges 15 and 21 of adjacent shingles. Byproviding the slits 26 in the shingles, as referred to, it becomesobvious, in applying a second row of shingles, that on entering lockingtabs 20 of a shingle under the adjacent edges of a pair of previouslyapplied shingles of a lower row, such shingle, to constitute a shingleof the next upper row, may then be pulled upwardly and through theprovision of slits 26, referred to, may readily be caused to pass theadjacent points of the previously applied shingles to be readily andquickly brought into position. As illustrated in Fig. 2, after theshingle of an upper row has been brought into position, slits 26 performno further function and in effect close, and since they overlay a solidportion of a shingle below they are in no manner detrimental, and ofcourse on a roof are unnoticeable.

No particular reference has been made in the foregoing to nailing theshingles to the roof, it being assumed, of course, that each shinglewill be suitably nailed in its head portion whereby it will be securedto the roof structure, and that such nails will, of course, be coveredor hidden by each next applied upper row of shingles.

According to the description in the foregoing, it is believed that it isclear that the shingle hereof is one which, when applied, produces a newand novel appearance, that is, the appearance of a hexagonal exposureportion which has not heretofore been possible with a shingle of thistype, that is, the T-shape intenlocking shingle. Also from suchdescription it should be clear that the shingle hereof is one which maybe applied as readily or expeditiously as any other generally T-forminterlocking shingle, and that when applied the shingles of a roof willbe securely interlocked so that there will be no flapping of the lowerportions thereof and that great resistance will be afforded against winddamage, to which most all roofing shingles of the so-called saturatedfelt type are quite susceptible.

As previously referred to, it should be apparent that the shingleshereof, when applied, provide a full double-coverage application toafford excellent protection against leakage of water through the roofand that the coverage provided is relatively high. The shingle hereof,as particularly described, is relatively a large shingle unit withoverall dimensions of 20" x 20 with the gross area of the cut shinglebeing 330 square inches, which results in a net area of 320.66 squareinches after the cutouts have been made, a loss in cutting ofapproximately only three percoverage shingle application this particularshingle is economical as to material required. Also, as pointed out,this shingle has the economical advantage that it can be readily appliedwith a minimum of time and effort, and finaly but not least, anapplication of these shingles provides a roof of hexagonal exposurepattern which has previously been impossible in connection with shinglesof this type constituting this invention.

In the use of the terms slots and slits above, such are to distinguishone from the other. The word slot designates a structure involving anactual cutout, the opposite walls of which are definitely spaced apart.The term slit on the other hand designates merely a cut or severingwithout removal of material, so that the side walls of a slit are incontact but severed one from the other.

It is to be understood, of course, that the dimensions particularlyreferred to are illustrative only, although they are preferred where thesaturated felt available is of 40 inch width. The teachings of thisinvention, however, may be readily availed of for suitably designingsimilar shingles to be cut from saturated felts of other widths. Forexample, if the available felt is a 38 inch felt than the shingledimensions should be suitably revised in accordance with the teachingshereof so that two rows of shingles 19 inches in height may be cut fromsuch 38 inch saturated felt.

The invention hereof having been disclosed and described in detail, whatI claim is:

1. A shingle comprising a head portion having parallel vertical sideedges, a shank portion substantially semihexagonal in shape, lockingtabs extending outwardly on each side of the shank portion at its lowerend and an intermediate portion having parallel vertical side edges andconnecting the head and shank portions and of half the width of the sumof the width of the head portion and widest part of the shank portion.

2. The shingle construction defined in claim 1 wherein the side edges ofthe shank portion are inclined substantially 24 with respect to thevertical centerline through the shingle height.

3. The shingle construction defined in claim 1 wherein each, the headportion, the shank portion and the intermediate pontion, is of equalheight.

4. The shingle construction defined in claim 1 wherein each, the head,intermediate and shank portions, is of equal height and the side edgesof the shank are inclined downwardly and inwardly from the lower edge ofthe intermediate portion at an angle of about 24 with respect to thevertical centerline through the shingle.

5. A roofing comprising assembled interlocking shingles, each shinglethereof including a head portion, a shank portion, the side edges ofwhich extend downwardly and convergingly and an intermediate portionbetween and connecting the head and shank portions, upwardly andconvergingly directed slots in the intermediate portion extending fromthe lower edge of the intermediate portion, the angularity of each, theside edges of the shank portion and the slots of the intermediateportion, with respect to a vertical through the height of a shinglebeing the same and in the assembly a side edge of a such slot of a lowerrow of shingles comprising a prolongation of a side edge of a shank of ashingle of the next upper row.

6. A shingle construction comprising a rectangular head portion, arectangular intermediate portion and basically rectangular shankportion, each respectively of narrower width than the immediatelypreviously named portion, the side edges of shank portion inclineddownwardly and convergingly to intersect the upper edges of outwardlyextending interlocking tab portions formed adjacent the bottom edge ofthe shank portion and in the intermediate portion, upwardly, inwardlyinclined slots extending from the intersection of the side edges of theshank portion with the bottom edge of the intermediate portion, theinolination of the said slots, with respect of the vertical centerlinethrough the shingle, the same as the inclination of said side edges ofthe shank portion relative thereto, and slits, in the shank portion,extending inwardly and toward the shingle center line from theintersection of the side edges of the shank portion and upper edge ofthe interlocking tab portions, the slits of equal length, the distancebetween their inner ends less than twice the distance between a sideedge of the head portion and the vertical through the point ofintersection of the side edge, on the same side of the shank portion,with the lower edge of the intermediate portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,672,713 Durbin June 5, 1928 1,691,343 French Nov. 13, 1928 1,825,576Butterick Sept. 29, 1931 2,086,137 Ritter July 6, 1937 2,437,874 BlackMar. 16,, 1948 2,444,623 Abraham July 6, 1948 2,607,304 KillingsworthAug. 19, 1952 2,658,461 Luce Nov. 10, 1953 2,659,321 Lincoln Nov. 17,1953 2,660,136 Abraham Nov. 24, 1953

